Camelot UK is carrying out a strategic review of The National Lottery after announcing an 8.8% fall in sales for the 2016/17 financial year.

The review will focus on four key business areas, including investment in technology and systems and commercial plans to boost sales performance. The current business structure and long-term succession will also be under review.

In the year to 31 March 2017, Camelot delivered £1.63bn (excluding investment returns) for Good Causes – more than £30m every week – taking the total delivered to date to over £37bn.

However, total returns were lower than in the previous year, which Camelot attributed to a disappointing performance across The National Lottery’s range of draw-based games.

Player confidence on Lotto was dented by “three very long and statistically unexpected rollover series in quick succession at the beginning of 2016”. EuroMillions also had a soft first six months in 2016/17 but its performance improved significantly over the second half of the year following the game changes Camelot introduced in late September.

Camelot chairman Jo Taylor said: “Given the current climate of economic uncertainty and increasing competition from the gambling sector, we expect 2017/18 to be equally, if not more, challenging for The National Lottery. It will therefore take time to turn things around and I anticipate a further sales decline this year.

“I am, however, confident that the review will enable us to put the business on the best possible footing to get back into growth – and so deliver even more for our players and the millions of people for whom National Lottery funding is so crucial over the remainder of this licence period.”